Chandler officer slain; 2 others shot

A Chandler police officer and two criminal suspects were killed in a shootout when an undercover operation went awry in south Phoenix on Wednesday evening.

Two other officers and two suspects were wounded. One of the officers was in critical condition and undergoing emergency surgery Wednesday night.

Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Steve Martos said Chandler police were engaged in an undercover operation involving about a dozen officers, including members of the department's SWAT team, when shooting erupted inside a home in the 2300 block of West Maldonado Road.

The names of the dead were not available late Wednesday.

Emergency crews were called to the scene, near south 23rd Avenue and Vineyard Road, around 6:45 p.m. When they arrived, two suspects were dead, and three Chandler officers and two other suspects were suffering from gunshot wounds.

All the officers were transported to St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, where one was pronounced dead a short time later. A second officer was said to be in critical condition, and the third was in stable condition.

"It's bad enough when it's one (police officer shot)," Martos said. "It's like getting punched in the gut, like getting the air sucked out of you."

Police would not say where the wounded suspects were taken or what their conditions were.

Two other, uninjured suspects were detained at the scene and were being questioned by Phoenix police.

As of 9 p.m. Wednesday, Chandler police had not released the names of the dead and wounded, and had not issued any statements regarding the nature of the undercover operation or how the shootout developed.

No Phoenix police officers were involved in the operation, Martos said.